Then it was on to 4 nights of showcases featuring 120 acts in 7 venues. Intimate by SXSW standards, perhaps, but still there was a lot of great music from which to choose. Highlights included The Greencards at the Station Inn, Richard Thompson at 3rd & Lindsley, and a blistering set by Oklahoma’s John Fullbright at the Cannery Ballroom, debuting brilliant new songs from his forthcoming second album.

Daytime conference sessions let out to fun yard parties at cool indie record stores, The Groove and Grimey’s. Ruth Moody debuted songs from her new album, These Wilder Things, at the Breakout West Party. One of the best attended events was hosted by Lone Star Music magazine, featuring Amanda Shires. The most intriguing event was a party at Jack White’s Third Man Records to introduce The Rise and Fall of the Paramount, a limited edition release of hundreds of jazz and blues songs from 1922-32, delivered on vinyl and USB and housed in a handsome handmade case, curated in partnership with Austin’s Revenant Records.